Yesterday, House Republicans forced a vote on their plan that raises the debt limit, while also shredding the social fabric that supports America’s most vulnerable. It takes the radical cuts from the Ryan Republican bill and adds steroids.
Here’s what that means.
The GOP plan would slash health care for working families and end Medicare as we know it.
It would increase out-of-pocket health costs for 70 million seniors’ by an average of $6,400 a year, beginning in 2021. It would transform Medicare into a voucher program, billing seniors with added costs and putting that money into the pockets of insurance companies.
The Ryan Republican budget from earlier this year was designed to decimate Medicare, but even that contains much tamer cuts than those found in the current GOP bill.
Also on the Republican chopping block: health care for low-income families. Their bill would cut Medicaid by one-third over 10 years and nearly in half by 2050 – the Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that 36 million people could lose their Medicaid coverage, including individuals with disabilities and seniors in nursing homes.
But don’t worry—millionaires and billionaires would still receive their tax cuts.
In an effort to score political points with their extreme base, Republicans evidently are willing to sacrifice seniors, working families, low-income children, and the most vulnerable among us.
President Obama continues to work with Congress to reach a balanced compromise that responsibly lowers the deficit, reforms programs to make them more efficient, and invests in America’s economic future. Just as the President said in his press conference today, “The problem we have now is we're in the 11th hour and we don't have a lot more time left.”
It’s time for a serious approach that works toward a solution. Political grandstanding, like yesterday’s vote in the House, just won’t cut it.